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Impact of Oxygen Plasma Treatment on the Device Performance of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticle-Based Thin-Film Transistors Hendrik Faber,† Johannes Hirschmann,† Martin Klaumünzer,‡ Björn Braunschweig,‡ Wolfgang Peukert,‡ and Marcus Halik*,† †
Organic Materials & Devices (OMD), Department of Materials Science, University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Martensstraße 7, 91058 Erlangen, Germany ‡ Institute of Particle Technology, Dept. of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Cauerstraße 4, 91058 Erlangen, Germany S Supporting Information *
ABSTRACT: Thin-films of zinc oxide nanoparticles were investigated by photoluminescence spectroscopy and a broad defect-related yellow-green emission was observed. Oxygen plasma treatment was applied in order to reduce the number of defects, and the emission intensity was quenched to 4% of the initial value. Thin-film transistors that incorporate the nanoparticles as active semiconducting layers show an improved device performance after oxygen plasma treatment. The maximum drain current and the charge carrier mobility increased more than 1 order of magnitude up to a nominal value of 23 cm2 V−1 s−1 and the threshold voltage was lowered. KEYWORDS: zinc oxide, nanoparticles, plasma treatment, thin-film transistors
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INTRODUCTION Solution processing of metal oxides as active components in electronic applications has been the subject of heightened importance in recent years1 and is considered as a key technology to realize the production of electronic devices on flexible substrates for low-cost and large-area market segments. Among the range of different processing techniques, the use of dispersible nanoparticles is a promising approach. Nanoparticles benefit from a range of size-related properties (e.g., high surface area, band gap tuning), which can be tailored to specific needs. However, to improve certain characteristics, e.g., to enhance conductivity, the application of postdeposition treatments is often necessary for particle-based systems. Those treatments can involve high temperatures, which are incompatible with applications on flexible substrates.2,3 The wide band gap II−VI compound semiconductor zinc oxide is a promising inexpensive and nontoxic material, which can be prepared in a variety of different nanoscale geometries (including particles,4 rods,5 or wires6) and afterward processed via dispersions. Because of the synthesis conditions, however, the resulting nanoscaled ZnO is not free of diverse defects.7 Owing to the large surface-to-volume ratio surface defects play a predominant role in controlling device performances. These can be detected in photoluminescence (PL) studies, where a broad emission in the visible spectrum (∼530 nm) is observed besides the band gap related excitonic peak in the ultraviolet (UV) region. Although this kind of defect related green-toyellow emission is well-known and documented for various © 2012 American Chemical Society
ZnO systems in literature, the exact determination of its origin is still under debate. Among the possible causes, oxygen vacancies are named most prominently,8,9 but also zinc interstitials,10 impurity atoms,11 or surface states.12 Nevertheless, such defects are prone to limit the performance of electronic devices and consequently methods for their elimination are of interest. In this work, we report on a postdeposition oxygen plasma treatment on nanoparticulate zinc oxide layers and its impact on the device performance of thin-film transistors in top-gate configuration.
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EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS
Zinc oxide nanoparticles with a diameter of approximately 5 nm covered by an acetate ligand shell (
